where does my strength come from?

Man, what a whirlwind of a month I've been handed. What do I have to show for such a busy month?

I've seen the lives of others changed around me, I've seen sinners come to know their Maker, I've seen others recommit themselves to their original promises to God, I've seen children, younger than you and I, learn to lean on God's grace for their lives. I've raised a good amount for Africa. :) I've trusted, I've grown. I've seen BIG THINGS. And boy, have I said big things. :)

I'm so thankful for a God who comes through when I really need Him to. And in HUGE ways.

Back to tonight's topic! My strength?

My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
Tenacity: persistence. perseverance. grasping tightly. holding firmly.
The word tenacity literally means "the act of holding onto..." It's an act, an action. To be persistent in this means to ACT on your convictions, your beliefs, to be a little WEIRD, a little radical. to GO, to be silent, whatever it may look like, it's an action.

Psalm 121

" ¹ I look up to the mountains—
     where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the Lord,
      who made heaven and earth!

 ³ He will not let you stumble;
      the one who watches over you will not slumber.
 ⁴ Indeed, he who watches over Israel
      never slumbers or sleeps.

 ⁵ The Lord himself watches over you!
      The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
 ⁶ The sun will not harm you by day,
      nor the moon at night.

 ⁷ The Lord keeps you from all harm
      and watches over your life. ⁸ The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
      both now and forever."



My help comes from the Lord. I could never have done what I did this month if it wasn't for His help. He's kept me from harm, and He watches over every decision I make. That's where my strength comes from. Knowing fully well that when I wake, the God of the universe is already there, with His huge plans.

I've held on, and learned that God is exactly who He says He is.
Be careful when you ask God to do big things, He'll knock you off your feet. :)

So grateful. My cup is overflowing.

Redeemed, JAS. <3

While there's still time....

"If God's love is for anybody, anywhere, it's for everybody....everywhere."


God is so cool, can I just say that? Super Summer went above my expectations. It's funny how when you even make expectations, God kinda throws them out the window and laughs and says something like, "Yeah right...wait til you see this!" I always imagine Him adding something like, "Boom Roasted" at the tip of those thoughts, too. Mmm!


Super Summer 2k11!



First, I love my girls. I miss them all. Wish we could all meet up like once a month! If any of them read this, you're beautiful, and you're God's. What else do you need to know from me??

We had a worship band from Ireland called BlueTree, (look them up, love them) they wrote the song God of This City that's become so popular. We got to hear the story behind the song, making the song even more of a motivator to see those "greater things" get done!
Craig Tackett was our speaker. He knocked me to the ground with his enthusiasm for God and for his love of Scripture. What a fun guy.

Just wanted to share my devotional this morning:
Since Eden, we've all sought independence from God's control in our lives, we convince ourselves that we're somehow in control of our destinies. But the Lord says one day He will come...and that's exactly what the prophet Joel was trying to tell Judah. Judah was a nation that had become so complacent, so comfortable. They were prosperous and powerful, taking their blessings for granted. (Sound familiar?) They had turned to self-centeredness, idolatry, and sin. Joel "boom roasted" Judah with words from God Himself:

¹² That is why the Lord says,
      “Turn to me now, while there is time.
   Give me your hearts.
      Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
 ¹³ Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
      but tear your hearts instead.”
   Return to the Lord your God,
      for he is merciful and compassionate,
   slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
      He is eager to relent and not punish.
 ¹⁴ Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
      sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
Joel 2:12-14

Key phrases that stick out to me are, "while there is still time" and "don't tear your clothing." Sounds silly to us now, but tearing your clothes was a sign of deep remorse back in the day, it happened all the time. But that's simply an outward act. Without inward repentance, or CHANGE, it'd be as if you ripped your shirt for nothing. Tearing your heart instead....sounds intense, but it's what God desires. And He is slooowwww to anger. Amen to that.

"While there is still time...." That one is pretty self-explanatory. Who knows, that blessing may be on its way as I write, but first comes repentance.

Don't wait, God takes no pleasure in fools who do so.

REDEEMED, JAS. :)

My own limitations

"...And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set a royal crown on her head and declared her queen..." Esther 2:17

DON'T LET LIMITATIONS LIMIT VISION.

Tonight I'm considering my own short-comings. I'm selfless to the point of a loss of self-worth, I talk WAY more than I listen, I don't take care of myself, I'm sarcastic to the point of insensitivity, indecisive, selfish, and the list could go on....
But also tonight, I'm considering the life of Queen Esther. So consider this:

God doesn't only use our gifts to fulfill our destiny, He'll use our limitations as well.

Yeah, even the things we're HORRIBLE at, or that we struggle with the most, God uses it all.
Esther has several "big" short-comings for back in her day. Sure, she didn't have to worry about social status, having an iPhone, updating her Facebook, being tan enough for summer, or texting people back in a timely fashion, but she had a few issues to face in her time as well. And her limitations, the things she had "going against her" so to speak, are what God used to help her fulfill for role as queen.
She was an orphan.
She was a minority.- a Jew living in Persia, BIG deal.
She was a single woman.

And God used all of those things, along with her beauty and brains to fulfill her destiny.

Sometimes what looks like a disaster in my life is part of a much bigger plan. But I'll never fulfill that destiny if i'm busy throwing my own pity party.
Esther could've regretted her role. She could've done like most of us do today and said, "If only it wasn't me" or she could have looked at other people's lives and said, "Man, it must be nice to be them..."

I think I need to realize that the unpleasant obstacles in my life are more often God-ordained opportunities in the making.

So, for anyone reading:
You might be in a situation right now where everything is going wrong, and you can't figure ANYTHING out. "Why me?" But God knows. Nothing in your life is accidental. The pleasures, and the pains are all to be used by God.

So, I'm thankful to belong to a God who not only uses the good in my life, but the bad as well.
All I gotta do is say, "I don't get it..." and trust that He does.

Pray for me and my family tonight.
Redeemed, JAS.

A photo recap...

"A good snapshot stops a memory from running away..."


I'll be summing up this past month with old photos I found. :)

I'm a girl of few words tonight.

Africa is on my mind.



I hung out with Melissa. FINALLY. P.S. I miss Rose...

I'm leaving for Super Summer in a week and I'm PUMPED.

My crazy brother moved in next door. Grrrreat. ;)

I have the world's wackest best friend ever. :)

My parent's first year anniversary is coming up. ;)
 I LOVE THEM.

UCO's #CentralEdge KILLED IT at AAF this year. :)

Had a few heart to hearts with good ole Baby Ray. :)



Sometimes good things fall apart. <3



His Grace is and always will be more than enough. <3

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand. I leave for Africa in less than 7 months. Mmmmmm.
Doing good, doing REAL good. :)


Redeemed, JAS.

Make Great Sacrifices

 Consider this!
Eventually every relationship you have, every dream you pursue, every  possession you own will have to go to the altar from time to time. It won't be a superficial test; it will hurt. Because sacrifices always do.
When we're truly devoted to something or to someone we're willing to make sacrifices. The measure of that sacrifice determines what matters most to us. Sometimes God responds to our  prayers rather bluntly. Like in Luke 14:33


"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."



Broseph



Now, some things in Scripture can be hard to understand, but this isn't one of those. It's tough to do, sure, but it isn't complicated. Jesus made it clear that following Him, even if it contradicts everything that's important to us, is the top priority. Following Jesus means letting go of YOUR agenda, and picking up HIS.



Like a king that has to calculate the strength of his army before going to war, discipleship is no different.  In other words, what will this cost us? the COST is absolute sacrifice.

Here's my modern day example:

Imagine a little girl playing with plastic beads. She loves them. What if someone asked her for the plastic beads in exchange for a real (and expensive) pearl necklace? And moreover, she REFUSED THE GIFT?! Logically, her attachment to the plastic beads doesn't make sense. She would lose very little and gain so much more if she accepted the offer. One day she'd look back at the exchange, and wonder why it was ever a hard decision in the first place. But she can't see that in her childlike ways. 

Sadly, this is how many of us live today. Pain helps a person discern between plastic and pearls. Suffering leads to discernment.Sacrifice. But we who live comfortably as Christians have trouble telling the difference between plastic and pearls. We hang onto our friends, families, and income as though they were the ultimate reward. If God were to ask if we loved Him, we'd have no true answer. We're afraid to relinquish the beads for valuable pearls. And why? Because we value our beads? Or because we're suspicious that the pearls aren't real?  

So tonight, I ask, what sacrifices have you made to show your true devotion? What sacrifices still need to be made? It's time to lay it on the altar.

"So when the whole world turns against me, and I'm all by myself. And I can't hear you answer my cries for help, I'll remember the suffering Your love put me through and walk through the valley. It may not be the way I would've chosen, but you never said it would be easy. You only said I'd never go alone...."

Redeemed, JAS. :)

Through The Mud

Adversity introduces a man to himself.

Adversity. Affliction. Distress. Discomfort. Misfortune. Hardship.

Suffering. A word NO ONE wants to hear, right? The words mentioned above are synonyms for 'suffering.'  C.S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

We plot. We plan. We assume things are going to go a certain way. And when they don’t, we find ourselves in a new place—a place we haven’t been before, a place we never would have imagined on our own. It is the difficult and the unexpected, and maybe even the tragic, that opens us up and frees us to see things in new ways. Many of the most significant moments in our lives come not because it all went right but because it all fell apart. Suffering does that. It hurts, but it also creates.

Here's what the Bible says in 1 Peter:

 ^13-18If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God. (The Message)

Jesus paid it all.

The antonyms for suffering are hopeful. Happiness. Health. and Joy.
If you are suffering, I pray that it will bend you, and break you--but  into a better shape until you reach health and happiness.


Redeemed, JAS. :)

When life gives you lemons...

PRAISE GOD FOR THOSE LEMONS. :)

Amanda loves me <3

I have had many conversations with people who feel ripped off by life and therefore mad at God.   Because of personal challenges and severe circumstances they have decided that God is not worthy of their love or attention. However, I disagree with that.  I have experienced challenges in my life as well.  I have had people mistreat me and I have been delivered depressing news, but those things do not change my view of God.  They never have, and they never will. Even if my confidence in the the amount of trust I have in God wavers, my devotion to Him does not.

Even when life is not perfect....God is.

Hebrews 13:8

"Jesus Christ never changes; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!"

When I can’t find comforting answers to appease my questions, that does not mean that God has lost control.  I know that God is still good.  He is still loving, and He is still on my side.  When I am faced with challenges, I pray. Maybe not immediately, but eventually I know that every circumstance under Heaven, He is well aware of my needs.  Sometimes he has changed the circumstances and made them easier to deal with while other times he has just given me peace in the midst of the storm and surrounded me with his presence, but He has never left me alone, and He will never leave you alone either.  

So, the next time you feel that life has ripped you off and God has let you down, take a deep breath and realize that God is still right there next to you ready to help you cope.  You can pray and ask him to change the details of whatever it is that you are facing, but even if that takes time, ask Him for peace to make it through.

      

Philippians 4:6-7

^"6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I pray that you're able to "make lemonade" out of the circumstances you're in.

PS: Check out the greatest song ever:

REDEEMED, JAS. :)